Well, it's that time of year again. We're coming down from our Halloween sugar rush and we’re getting revved up for the holiday season. Next up on the celebration docket… Thanksgiving! This year, I thought it would be fun to add my own personal touch to my dinner table by creating some special turkey place settings for my guests. All I needed was a pad of colorful cardstock, some googly eyes and of course the quintessential tool for over-engineering any mundane, everyday task… SOLIDWORKS!

One simple way to save time, money and resources when 3D printing anything is to first run a simulation on your designs. There are many different simulation tools that have the ability to do this, such as Altair Inspire Extrude Polymer, when you want to run a polymer extrude simulation.

Today, quadcopters, more commonly referred to as "Drones," have evolved into many different categories. From Scenic Quads that are GPS controlled, used to capture amazing scenery and widely used for movie/video photography to a $5 toy for an indoor flying session, drones have become instinctively popular. Now with the advancement in 3D printing materials such as thermoplastics in the Stratasys FDM family, for years we have been replacing traditional manufacturing tools and end-use parts.

SOLIDWORKS 2019 includes new software updates and features that make the design process a breeze. Improvements to the Design Ecosystem were developed to get the right information in the right hands, reduce roadblocks between departments, and make it easier for you to design better products, faster.

It's finally fall! For everyone who was dying in the summer sun, we finally made it and get some relief from the heavy heat! To me, fall is the time for watching leaves change color, eating my share of turkey on Thanksgiving and my favorite, riding my motorcycle through the mountains! Every year I cram as many weekend rides into the Blue Ridge Mountains to see the trees and enjoy the crisp air as possible. Like many riders, I have a camera to capture all the great scenery, as well as any road hazards. I typically mount my camera on the motorcycle itself, however, that’s only because I can’t find a mount that perfectly fits my helmet.

Thermoplastic Polyurethane 92A (TPU 92A) is a type of elastomer material - a polymer with elastic properties. The main differentiator between elastomers and rigid, or semi-rigid, polymers is resilience; TPU can stretch or compress significantly and not lose its shape. This material is renowned for high elongation, superior toughness and extreme durability.

One of the advantages of having a Stratasys 3D printer is the plethora of materials available. But, it is a double-edge sword because it can be overwhelming when trying to pick the right thermoplastic or photopolymer material for your design.

Interface, part modeling and 2D drawings are just a few of the things that designers rely on and work with every day. Now, with some brand new tools and some improvements to the tools you already have, theses are a few ways SOLIDWORKS 2019 helps you get your job done faster than ever before.

As I mentioned in my other post, I was fortunate to have the opportunity as a high school student to learn engineering and architecture through a program similar to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). So in honor of National STEM Day for the young minds we’ll take a peek into some kinetics (motion).

I was fortunate to have the opportunity as a high school student to learn engineering and architecture through a program similar to STEM. I used this as a stepping stone to go to college for mechanical engineering. Then I found a great career with a large automaker and started really learning about practical applications.

The J750 is Stratasys’ new flagship PolyJet 3D printer, capable of creating some of the most amazing parts and assemblies you can imagine. Here at TriMech, we’ve upgraded to the newest version of the J750 with all of the latest updates, and we’re all incredibly excited to start making new parts that fully take advantage of what this state of the art system can do!

The release of SOLIDWORKS 2019 provides us with some of the best performance enhancements and improvements to date. These are based on customer feedback so SOLIDWORKS continues to reflect real-world applications. Below is a overview of the best new performance features we found in the SOLIDWORKS 2019 release.